6.  The applicant was born in 1956 and is currently serving a prison sentence in Dnipropetrovsk Correctional Colony (“the prison”).
7.  On 21 January 2000 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of the premeditated murder of two people in October 1999. According to the applicant, in the course of his arrest he was severely beaten by unspecified police officers. The applicant was not examined by a doctor.
8.  The applicant also submitted that during his questioning at the police station he had been subjected to psychological pressure, which had included threats to his close family members’ life and health. As a result of the ill‑treatment he allegedly confessed to having committed the murders. The applicant stated that he had not had access to legal assistance during his police questioning. The applicant also stated that he had been drunk during that questioning.
9.  The Government contested the applicant’s allegations, stating that he had not been subjected to the alleged ill-treatment and that he had been questioned by the police in the presence of a lawyer, Ms P., who had been called by the police to assist the applicant at his own request. The Government submitted a copy of the verbatim record of the applicant’s questioning on 21 January 2000, in which it was stated that Ms P. had taken part in the questioning and that the applicant had confessed to having murdered two people and robbed a third one, Ms T.
10.  On 22 January 2000 the applicant was taken to Odessa Police Temporary Detention Centre (“the ITT”), where, according to him, the conditions of his detention had been inhuman and degrading. The applicant also alleged, in general terms, that he had been beaten up during his detention in the ITT.
11.  On 9 February 2000 the applicant was transferred to Odessa Pre‑Trial Detention Centre (“the SIZO”), where he allegedly continued to be subjected to inhuman conditions of detention.
12.  The Government contested the trustworthiness of the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment in detention and noted that they were not supported by any evidence.
13.  In February 2000 the applicant was also charged with the murder of Ms T.
14.  During his subsequent pre-trial questioning, the applicant made conflicting statements concerning his involvement in the crimes of which he was accused, in some cases retracting his earlier statements. The applicant was legally represented during the questioning.
15.  The investigation was completed in June 2000, with the applicant and several other persons being charged with a number of counts of aggravated murder, robbery, banditry and unlawful possession of arms.
16.  In the course of the investigation, the applicant changed his lawyer several times. During the trial the applicant was represented by Mr K., a lawyer who, according to the Government, was hired by the applicant’s wife. The applicant did not give details of how that lawyer had been appointed to represent him.
17.  Although the applicant sought to have his wife defend him in the proceedings, she was not allowed to do so, as she had been questioned as a witness in the case.
18.  During the trial the applicant partly admitted his responsibility for some of the crimes, excluding the murders. The applicant also raised complaints that his self-incriminating statements had been obtained under duress.
19.  On 27 June 2002 the Odessa Regional Court of Appeal (“the Odessa Court”) found the applicant and three other persons guilty of banditry, illegal possession of firearms, and several counts of robbery and murder committed in 1999, and sentenced the applicant to life imprisonment and ordered the confiscation of all his property. The Odessa Court based its judgment on the testimony of a number of witnesses and victims of the crimes, partly on some of the statements made by the applicant and his co‑defendants in the course of the investigation and during the trial, and also on the conclusions of several forensic, ballistic and other expert examinations. The court further noted that the applicant’s allegation that he had been drunk during his questioning on 21 January 2000 was unsubstantiated.
20.  In July 2002 the applicant lodged an appeal in cassation with the Supreme Court, in which he mainly complained that his and his co‑defendants’ self-incriminating statements, on which the first-instance court had relied, had been obtained under torture. Subsequently, the applicant amended his appeal in cassation, alleging that the Odessa Court had incorrectly established the facts and had unlawfully sentenced him to life imprisonment. According to the applicant, such a punishment could not have been applied for crimes committed before 1 September 2001. The applicant also complained that the first-instance court had prevented his wife from defending him at trial and that there had been no video recording of the hearings.
21.  On 13 February 2003 the applicant asked the Odessa Court to replace Mr K. with another lawyer, Mr M. The applicant stated that he had had no contact with Mr K., “who had been appointed to [represent him] by [the Odessa Court]” and that Mr K. had had to be disciplined for “a violation of his duty to provide legal assistance”. The applicant did not give any details of the alleged violation.
22.  On the same date Mr K. submitted a statement to the Odessa Court informing it that he had met with the applicant several hours earlier at the SIZO in order to provide him with legal assistance. According to the lawyer, during that meeting the applicant had refused to cooperate and had made insulting statements. The lawyer also stated that he had previously helped the applicant to prepare his appeal in cassation. The lawyer’s statement contained two signatures which he claimed belonged to the SIZO guards in whose presence he prepared that document.
23.  On 17 March 2003 the Odessa Court refused the applicant’s request, noting that during the trial the applicant had not raised any complaints concerning his representation by Mr K. The court held that Mr M. could not be appointed to represent the applicant, as M. had represented one of the applicant’s co-defendants in the same case and the applicant and that co‑defendant had made conflicting statements concerning the circumstances of the case. The court also noted that the applicant had completed familiarising himself with the case materials.
24.  On 14 April 2003 the applicant lodged a request with the Supreme Court asking it to ensure that he was assisted by a lawyer pursuant to the legal aid scheme in force. The same request was raised in the amended appeal which the applicant submitted to the Supreme Court on that date.
25.  By letter of 17 April 2003 the Supreme Court informed the applicant that his request for a lawyer had been refused, as he was already represented by Mr K., who had been duly informed of the hearing before that court scheduled for 15 May 2003. The Supreme Court also noted that if the applicant wished to hire another lawyer, he could do so pursuant to Article 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1960, and that that court did not, in general, deal with the issue of ensuring that prisoners had legal representation. It is unclear if the hearing scheduled for 15 May 2003 actually took place.
26.  On 10 July 2003 the Supreme Court heard the case on the merits in the applicant’s presence. The Supreme Court partly changed the qualification of the applicant’s criminal actions, having upheld the majority of the findings of the first-instance court and the applicant’s sentence. It also rejected the applicant’s complaint that his penalty had not been based on the law in force at the material time, finding that the applicant had been convicted of crimes for which at the time of their commission the maximum penalty had been death. After the Constitutional Court had declared the provisions concerning the death penalty unconstitutional on 29 December 1999, Parliament had replaced that sanction with life imprisonment by the Act of 22 February 2000.
27.  The Supreme Court also noted that the hearings before the first‑instance court had been audio recorded and that the applicant’s wife could not have been allowed to defend the applicant as she had been questioned as a witness.
28.  In 2004 the applicant was transferred to prison to serve his sentence.
29.  In 2005 the applicant lodged civil claims with several courts against the police, prosecutors and the Odessa Court, seeking compensation for his allegedly unfair conviction. The claims were dismissed for the applicant’s failure to comply with procedural formalities.
30.  After the applicant lodged his application with the Court, he was invited to submit copies of various documents pertinent to his complaints, including a full copy of the judgment of 27 June 2002 and a copy of his appeal in cassation. The applicant was not able to provide such copies before November 2011, stating that the authorities had denied him the opportunity to obtain them. According to the Government, the applicant made no written request for copies of the judgment or of his appeal in cassation. Eventually, copies of the judgment of 27 June 2002 and of the applicant’s appeal in cassation were submitted by the parties.
31.  On 25 October 2004 the applicant lodged a written request with the Odessa Court for copies of the transcripts of the court hearings in his criminal case, which he intended to submit to the Court in support of his application. By letter of 12 November 2004 the Odessa Court refused the request, noting that domestic law did not provide for copies of such documents to be furnished and that the applicant had previously been given the opportunity to study the transcripts of the court hearings.
32.  On 12 June 2006 the Odessa Court issued a copy of the judgment of 27 June 2002 to the applicant’s wife upon her written request.